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There is no way that Barkov drops to the 8th spot. Barkov will go before Monahan. Zadorov is not going in the top 8, I hope he does then that way we could get Monahan.

There's always that one player that slides every year for no explainable reason. I'm hoping this year its Barkov or Monahan. I figured Nashville would be more likely to choose Monahan because they always draft forwards that are really good defensively over a more pure offensive one.

Forsberg & Grigorenko dropped to 11 and 12 last year despite going into the draft considered top 5 picks.
Couturier dropped to 8 despite spending most of the season in the same conversation as RNH, Larsson & Landeskog.
Fowler dropped to 12 the season before despite going into the draft as arguably the best d-man.

With such a strong year this year, and everyone saying most of the 1st round is can't-miss players, I could easily see one of Barkov, Monahan or Lindholm dropping to 10

There's always that one player that slides every year for no explainable reason. I'm hoping this year its Barkov or Monahan. I figured Nashville would be more likely to choose Monahan because they always draft forwards that are really good defensively over a more pure offensive one.

Forsberg & Grigorenko dropped to 11 and 12 last year despite going into the draft considered top 5 picks.
Couturier dropped to 8 despite spending most of the season in the same conversation as RNH, Larsson & Landeskog.
Fowler dropped to 12 the season before despite going into the draft as arguably the best d-man.

With such a strong year this year, and everyone saying most of the 1st round is can't-miss players, I could easily see one of Barkov, Monahan or Lindholm dropping to 10

I see Lindholm maybe dropping a bit. But he will still be gone by the 10th pick. Maybe Zarodov and Ristolainen jump into the top 10 as teams always want big dmen

Nsh main scout is based In Sweden. They have picked a lot of players in later rounds from Sweden. I would strongly hedge that they will take Lindholm with their pick if available. Their fans (in their draft thread) think the same as well.

I think the top 4 are a lock...Jones, Mack, Drouin and Barkov. I think Nurse could go top 7 to PHI. Lindholm to NSH. Nish is a wildcard. Not sure where he will go. I think Oil are in Good position to select Monahan but as always just takes one team to like Monahan and poof he's gone by the time we pick

Im starting to think if were at 8-10 and monohan is gone, nichuskin would be worth chance. Most of us WANT to leave whoever we draft in junior for another year or two and him staying in the khl for 2 years would let him become even bigger, stronger and give him time to work on his balance/skating. Another big thing is that he would come over here when hes 20 and just start on his elc then.

Im starting to think if were at 8-10 and monohan is gone, nichuskin would be worth chance. Most of us WANT to leave whoever we draft in junior for another year or two and him staying in the khl for 2 years would let him become even bigger, stronger and give him time to work on his balance/skating. Another big thing is that he would come over here when hes 20 and just start on his elc then.

The Oilers are done mentally imo. They have thrown it in and I could see a scenario where we see maybe 1 or 2 more wins at most. They have a tough schedule remaining. Home ice advantage doesn't mean a lot when this team is mentally already booking tee times and the rest of the teams are either in playoff chases for their playoff lives... or jockeying for home ice advantage in the playoffs.

The Oilers likely won't finish 2nd last.. but certainly not out of the realm of possibility that they finish bottom 5 if they keep stinking it up like they are.

This is my rough estimate of where the Oilers would finish depending on how many more pts they get this season (taking into account their loss tonight versus Calgary... and taking into account probable tiebreakers in the standings as well):

Of course the lottery could move them all the way up to #1 or down a spot as well.

With seven games remaining against tough opponents... I think they could quite easily get 7 or less pts the rest of the way and finish with a top 7 pick... and honestly 7 pts over the next 7 games seems like a very optimistic total at this point.

In terms of a speedy rebuild, some how landing MacKinnon and then dealing Gagner for a top 4 d-man who can play right away probably would be the best scenario for us, but I don't know if that'll happen.

As good as Jones is, and Nurse/Zadarov might be, they're probably a few years out from controlling the game.

Remember how Adam Larsson was supposed to be a NHL impact d-man like right away? Well this is his second year and he's still coming along slowly. Defense just takes a while to really pick up at the NHL level.

In terms of a speedy rebuild, some how landing MacKinnon and then dealing Gagner for a top 4 d-man who can play right away probably would be the best scenario for us, but I don't know if that'll happen.

As good as Jones is, and Nurse/Zadarov might be, they're probably a few years out from controlling the game.

Remember how Adam Larsson was supposed to be a NHL impact d-man like right away? Well this is his second year and he's still coming along slowly. Defense just takes a while to really pick up at the NHL level.

I think a player like Barkov is what we need, this kid is only 17 he turns 18 in Sept. We need some size on this team and we have to get some grit and size on this team.
PRV is improving but he will never be a grinder in the corner. He stands in front of the net but he doesn't get in the goalies face.
Gagner he has skill but we need size and someone who doesnt lose the puck in the corners.
Hemsky no room for him in the top 6 and not the type of player for the bottom 6.

In terms of a speedy rebuild, some how landing MacKinnon and then dealing Gagner for a top 4 d-man who can play right away probably would be the best scenario for us, but I don't know if that'll happen.

As good as Jones is, and Nurse/Zadarov might be, they're probably a few years out from controlling the game.

Remember how Adam Larsson was supposed to be a NHL impact d-man like right away? Well this is his second year and he's still coming along slowly. Defense just takes a while to really pick up at the NHL level.

Yeah Zadarov and Nurse may have good potential but they are 2-4 years away. Jones is the only Dman that you can expect to make an immediate impact.

In terms of a speedy rebuild, some how landing MacKinnon and then dealing Gagner for a top 4 d-man who can play right away probably would be the best scenario for us, but I don't know if that'll happen.

As good as Jones is, and Nurse/Zadarov might be, they're probably a few years out from controlling the game.

Remember how Adam Larsson was supposed to be a NHL impact d-man like right away? Well this is his second year and he's still coming along slowly. Defense just takes a while to really pick up at the NHL level.

If the team lands MacKinnon, I'd rather have them keep Gagner, get rid of Hemsky and break MacKinnon in on the wing.

Getting even more inexperienced at the 2nd line C spot isn't the answer. Hemsky's 'veteran leadership' doesn't count because he doesn't seem to have any leadership ability whatsoever.

We get a pretty heavy WHL lean and slant over here so thought I'd chime in with some other prospects after the first round that sound intriguing from some other research I've done:

D Tommy Vannelli - Toolsy and smooth defender from Minnesota high school that has lots of filling out to do, noted for a eye-popping outlet pass and PP QB abilities. Could take a Petry like development in the US system. Supposed to go to University of Minnesota. Might be one of my favorite prospects I've heard about from on paper without actually seeing him play.
D Maxime Gravel - smooth skating, high offensive IQ d-man with a bit of a mean streak in him. Could be appealing after round 3.
F Marc-Olivier Roy - Slick hard-working forward with terrific stickhandling skills, IQ, and elusiveness, competitive but slight in size. Is lighting it up in the playoffs right now in the Q. Only his second year in the league as an 18-year-old but the skills are really intriguing to me here.
F Vincent Dunn - intense, physical, agitator type who crashes the net playing for Val D'Or in the Q. Size is his minus at 5'11". Put up good points with 52 points in 53 games but got suspended for a racial slur against a native opponent earlier this year. Teams tend to fall in love with these types of players, could see him going as early as the 2nd because of his competitiveness.
F Emile Poirier - This guy could be the Brandon Saad of this draft from the sounds of Q watchers, late birthday (Saad was too), but I'd keep my eye on him. Very skilled with some skating concerns but people are all over his clutchness and skills. His forechecking, intelligence and 2-way game seem to be raved about. Plays in Gatineau right across from Ottawa and played Halifax in playoffs, this guy is known by all scouts by now might be an early 2nd at this point.

He came up on his 3rd year. In both of his first two years he stayed on the team before his 10th game would kick in. In the second year, they didn't return him until the World Juniors. He sat in the press box often, and trained with the team.